Excel at Excel (Or Google Sheets)
Hello All,
So, perhaps it won’t be surprising that I’m a bit of an excel nerd. It’s capabilities are impressive and it can used by pretty much anyone who knows how to use a computer. Understandably, many business owners that I have spoken to are intimidated by it or are unaware of its functionality. The good news is that it is fairly simple to use and there are a limitless number of resources available to become better at it.
In my view, every business owner needs to have at least a working knowledge of spreadsheets. It is essential for almost any type of financial analysis as it can provide powerful insights and save you a great deal of time. There are numerous other types of ways in which excel (or google sheets) can help. Some of the ways in which small businesses can use excel include:
Basic calculations: Rather than using a calculator, excel is often better as you can see your inputs to verify accuracy and change them easily without having to redo the calculations.
Accounting (per my last newsletter and blog post below): If you are small and your business is fairly straightforward you can track your revenues and expenses in excel.
Pricing analysis: Determining the actual cost of your products is much easier when you do it in excel. I recommend getting as granular as possible with this. Once set up, you can change the inputs as more information becomes available or changes.
Sales and cash flow forecasting: Listing your expected sales and expenses can be invaluable exercise especially for business owners who have to ensure that they have enough cash to meet their needs in the future.
Sales Analysis: Slicing and dicing your sales in various ways to see what trends emerge and how you can leverage the data to serve your customers better.
Inventory management: I usually recommend accounting software for inventory management as this can become complex and difficult to manage, however, in the early stages of your business a spreadsheet can at least help you understand your products, what is selling well and what needs to be ordered.
Set up invoices: If you aren’t using an accounting or invoicing software, I actually prefer excel to word for this. You can format your invoice templates, import your logo etc. Excel is better in that it does the calculations automatically. I have often seen invoices generated with Word with calculation errors.
Create reporting dashboards: this is a bit advanced but there are various templates online that can help you see your business at a glance.
Track your customer or client info: by using tables in excel, you can set up names, addresses and any other pertinent info relating to your client. You can then query the data much more easily.
Charts: See your data visually by means of charts and graphs. Infographics are also very easy to create in excel. There is a significant amount of design functionality.
Basically, if you have any type of data that you want to be able to analyze or set up templates with, spreadsheets are the way to go. If the thought of using spreadsheets makes you a bit queasy, I recommend taking a few minutes to open up a YouTube video (or simply search for excel for beginners ) and start playing around with it. If you have some knowledge already, know that excel /google sheets can automate a swathe of tasks that you might be doing manually right now and provide you with insights to help you run your business more profitably.
If you have a specific question or if you need help with something in excel, send me an email at ronika@montrealfinancial.ca.
Blog Post
An overview of specific functions and formulas that are useful for small business owners
Excel for Small Business Owners
As a confirmed excel nerd, there is something about large amounts of data that I am inextricably drawn towards . I suppose it has something to do with an affinity for organization combined with a love
Finance Stuff:
YT Excel Channels: For those of you who are inspired to improve your excel skills, this article provides a list of channels including the microsoft one.
Small Business and AI: There are so many ways that AI can help businesses improve efficiencies and automate processes. This article from Forbes provides 20 such ways.
Tax Stuff:
Taxpayer Bill of Rights: Apparently there are 16 rights that you have when you are dealing with CRA including the right to privacy, reviews and appeals and timely information. A useful read especially if you are (or have ever had to be) in contact with CRA.
Prescribed CRA Interest Rates: Rising interest rates have also led to increase in CRA’s interest rates on late payments from 5% in 2021 to 9% as of the last quarter. Note that this also applies to instalment payments. So make sure you make your tax payments by the due dates to avoid completely unnecessary excess payments to CRA.
Tax Tips for Investment Income: How to benefit from dividends, structuring your RRSP and TFSA and mutual funds.
QuickBooks Tip: Using Excel
Every report in QBO can be exported to excel. This is particularly useful when you have data that you want to manipulate or simply format differently from the available report. It can also be a great starting point for forecasts, customer or pricing analysis etc., as discussed above.
To export your reports, simply go to the top right hand side of the report and select the “export” icon (next to the email and print icons).
Books and Resources:
Coming Soon! Small Business and Your Payroll: If there are any questions that you have about payroll that you want included in the book, please send me an email at ronika@montrealfinancial.ca.
Small Business Tax Facts(Sole Proprietorships/Registered Businesses/Self Employed Workers)
This book helps you take control of your finances by giving you a better understanding of tax (brackets, tax rates, deductions etc), how it applies to your unincorporated small businesses and how to do your own tax return (or at least understand what your accountant does). It also includes a comprehensive breakdown of deductible expenses, by category with special sections on more complex deductions such as home office, vehicle and capital cost allowance.
FastStart Your Corporation(Corporations)
A step by step guide to starting your small business corporation, including what you need to know about incorporation, setting up your accounting and tax considerations.
QuickStart your QuickBooks(Sole Proprietorships and Corporations)
A comprehensive guide that takes you through the many features of QBO and gives you step by step instructions on how to setup and work with QBO day to day. It is ideal for beginners who have never used QBO before and also for those who are currently using it, but have questions or need guidance.
FastStart Your Business (Sole Proprietorships)
A step by step guide for anyone who is planning to start a Canadian business or become self employed (and does not want to incorporate) and wants to know what they need to do or simply has questions.
Small Business and Your Dividends (Corporations)
For incorporated small business owners who want to know more about small business dividends, the differences between salary vs dividends and which is better and step by step instructions on how to file your own dividend declarations (T5s).
Use discount code “special” to save 20% on any (or all) book(s) when you purchase from the website.
Please note that all books on my website are in PDF format.
If you prefer a print version, all books are also available at Amazon . Note that print versions purchased on Amazon include a complimentary PDF - you just need to email me and include proof of purchase.
Free Resources
Business 2023 Tax Deadline Calendar
Starting A Corporation Checklist
Start Your Business Checklist
Dividend Declarations Checklist
Small Business Tax Return Checklist
QBO Set Up Checklist.
Small Business Calculators
Previous newsletters
Consultations
I also provide consultation services where I can answer your specific questions relating to your small business and/or finances, provide clarity and give you guidance. Additional details can be found here and here. Note that I no longer provide ongoing accounting or tax preparation services.
Reviews/Feedback
I would love to hear your comments on my current blog posts, topic ideas for new blogs, book feedback or anything else that you want to talk to me about. You can use my feedback form or email me directly at ronika@montrealfinancial.ca.
For anyone who has purchased my books through Amazon or directly and found them useful, I would be very grateful for a review on Amazon (to leave a review you only need to have an account with Amazon even if you did not purchase the book from there).
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Wishing everyone a great, coming up to the end of summer, weekend!
Ronika